Astronomers may have detected one for the first time sun-like star named EK Draconis, while erupts with a giant explosion, 10 times bigger than anything similar ever seen by ours Sun, according to a new study.
The new results could do light on the effects such powerful explosions may have had on early Earth when life was born, and that they might have on modern Earth and our societies, the researchers said.
Our sun often unleashes flares that can hold as much energy as millions of hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time, and these phenomena are often accompanied by gigantic luminous tendrils of solar plasma known as filaments, which can release magnetic bubbles of super-hot plasma called coronal mass ejections whizzing through space at millions of miles per hour.
When coronal mass ejections hit the Earth, they can fry satellites into orbit and trigger severe disturbances known as geomagnetic storms that can wreak havoc on power grids.
An example, in 1989, a coronal mass ejection obscured the entire Canadian province of Quebec in seconds, damaging transformers as far as New Jersey and nearly shutting down U.S. power grids from the Mid-Atlantic across the Pacific Northwest.
“Coronal mass ejections can have a severe impact on Earth and human society“
stated in a note the co-author of the study Yuta Notsu, astrophysics of the University of Colorado Boulder.
Previous research has found that distant yellow dwarfs could erupt with “superflares,” bursts that pack 10 times more energy than the largest known solar flares.
Superflars could theoretically detonate equally super coronal mass ejections far more powerful than those produced by our sun, but until now astronomers had seen no evidence that this was true.
“Coronal mass ejections are the most important aspect when it comes to considering the effects of superflars on planets, especially our Earth”
Notsu later stated.
The results of the new study on EK Draconis
In the new study, the researchers analyzed EK Draconis, a star located about 111 light-years from Earth.
EK Draconis is a yellow dwarf like the sun, but is much younger at only 50-125 million years old.
“It’s what our sun looked like 4.5 billion years ago”
Notsu said in the statement.
Previous work found that EK Draconis erupted frequently, suggesting that astronomers monitoring it might be lucky enough to hunt for superflars and giant coronal mass ejections.
In the new study, scientists observed EK Draconis from January to April 2020 using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite of NASA, the Seimei telescope of the Kyoto University and the Nayuta telescope of the Nishi-Harima Astronomical Observatory.
On April 5, 2020, the research team’s insight paid off: Scientists detected a superflare from EK Draconis that was followed about 30 minutes later by what appeared to be a moving coronal mass ejection. at approximately 1.1 million mph (1.8 million km / h).
Scientists therefore estimated that his mass was 10 times greater than that of the largest known solar coronal mass ejection.
“This is the first detection of a possible coronal mass ejection from a solar-type star”
Notsu said in a statement.
Notsu noted that the team was only able to capture the initial phase of the coronal mass ejection, so it’s unclear whether it fell on the star or was ejected into space. Future research should employ a series of telescopes to study the later stages of coronal mass ejections around other stars, he added.
These findings suggest that the young sun may also have detonated gigantic coronal mass ejections which in turn may have affected early Earth.
“In other words, coronal mass ejections can be strongly correlated with the environment in which life was born”
Notsu said.
Notsu noted that superflars on our sun seem rare. However, data from tree rings and other sources suggest the sun may have hit Earth with superflares multiple times in the past 10,000 years, he added.
“Discussions about the possibilities and effects of superflares and supercoronal mass expulsions on our society are important”
Notsu said.
Scientists detailed their findings online Dec.9 in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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